Governor of the Bank of England (BoE), Mark Carney, has warned that the current low cost of food and fuel is temporary, and consumers should prepare themselves for eventual price rises.

Noting that the low inflation rate was good news for the public – with the cost of living set to increase just 0.5% in 2015, the slowest pace ever recorded – he also offered words of caution.

‘This is temporary,’ he said. ‘It’s an important point, two thirds of this has been from falls in food and energy prices. Enjoy it while it lasts, because this will go away over the course of the next year’.

He added: ‘The combination of rising wages and falling energy and food prices will help household finances and boost the growth of real take home pay this year to its fastest rate in a decade. This will support solid growth in consumer spending’.

The BoE has also released forecasts that inflation will fall into negative figures for a short time this year, driven mainly by the oil and food price slumps, a situation not seen in the UK since 1960.